Bingkai Karya — Djo, the musical project of actor, producer, and songwriter Joe Keery known for his work in blockbuster projects such as ‘Stranger Things’ and ‘Fargo’, has released his new follow up album, ‘The Crux Deluxe’, out now via AWAL Recordings. The project arrives on the heels of his critically beloved third album, ‘The Crux’, released earlier this year.
‘The Crux’ found Djo surpassing 2.7 billion streams across his catalogue earning massive radio airplay with “Basic Being Basic” and going 3x Platinum on his viral hit “End of Beginning”. The era also marked major milestones: debut performances at Glastonbury and Coachella, a sold out international tour, a triumphant return to Chicago with a 75,000 person crowd at Lollapalooza, and widespread critical acclaim, with ‘The Crux’ named to Best of 2025 lists by Rolling Stone, Spin, Entertainment Weekly, and more.
In the lead up to the release, Djo dropped surprise singles throughout the week “Carry The Name” on Monday, “It’s Over” on Tuesday, and “Awake” on Wednesday before capping it off with a full surprise album drop on Friday. Out now, ‘The Crux Deluxe’ is an expansive, 12 track companion album to ‘The Crux’, written, recorded, and produced by Keery and his collaborator Adam Thein. Mirroring the same length as ‘The Crux’, this deluxe record is full of songs that were written at the same time as ‘The Crux’ album sessions, earmarked for this follow up release. The result is a masterful continuation, picking up where the sonics and themes of the songs on the original left off.
What begins on ‘The Crux’ as a meditation on the dissolution of a relationship winds its way back to self resilience. Keery frames ‘The Crux’ concept through its art a collaboration with Neil Krug and Jake Hirshland as a hotel where all of its guests are transient, and at a spiritual or emotional crossroads. Now, it is nighttime at The Crux Hotel, reflected as an inverse from the original album, as Djo prepares to embark on a new day.
Unlike Djo’s previous albums with bedroom recordings centred around synths, ‘The Crux’ and ‘The Crux Deluxe’ spotlight lush guitars and instrumentation reminiscent of late 60’s and 70’s pop. They’re albums full of loss and yearning, but also full of wit and gratitude. The songs were written all over the world in a particularly fertile period for Keery where he was grappling with the transience of his other job, being untethered and away from his friends and family. But to make the albums, he settled into the legendary Electric Lady Studios in his adopted home of New York City. Both ‘The Crux’ and ‘The Crux Deluxe’ not only showcase his ambitious scope, but also his skills as a deft multi instrumentalist and songwriter.
Outside of music, Joe Keery will also return to screens in the highly anticipated final season of Netflix’s breakout original series ‘Stranger Things’, premiering November 26th.
About Djo
Though most widely known for his acting roles, Keery has long been an interdisciplinary powerhouse, having began making music as a teenager. He later joined the psych rock band Post Animal while in Chicago. In 2019, he released his first album, ‘Twenty Twenty’ under the moniker Djo. In 2022, his remarkable sophomore album ‘DECIDE’ was released via AWAL to critical acclaim.
Djo had a massive 2024 with his hit song “End of Beginning” taking off worldwide, where after climbing to #1 on the Global Spotify chart it was the #6 most streamed song in the world in 2024 with over 1.5 BILLION streams and over 60 BILLION TikTok views. The song had landed on official single charts in 41 countries, while racking up multiple Platinum and Gold records in 17 territories. In Asia, “End of Beginning” has reached #1 on the official single chart and Spotify chart in Indonesia, topped the Spotify Viral and Shazam charts in Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore, and was #9 on the Top 10 TikTok songs of 2024 in Indonesia. With over 2 BILLION career streams and over 9.5 MILLION monthly listeners from Asia, Djo has established himself as a force to be reckoned with in the region, with Indonesia now ranking as his #1 global streaming market.
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